#TIL: Comma Chaos

This post is only for those of you who are writing or grammar nerds.  The rest of you, pick a topic that interests you on the right and enjoy ;).  

Comma Chaos in English

So TIL there’s a worse trauma possible due to a lack of comma than that felt by Nelson Mandela and everyone else harmed by a missing Oxford Comma.  However, it’s not relevant in English writing only in Spanish and until now I had NO idea.  Zero.  Ziltch.  Nada.  None.  So now I’m wondering how much I’ve misread cause of it lol.

So - here’s the thing, this post is why actual live teachers are important, cause this TIL comes to you from my Spanish lesson today, and suffice to say Google Translate has never imparted this info to me ;)  Also, I’m writing this as much to solidify in my own little brain as to share this complete randomness.

These two sentences:

• Van a reformar la casa, que está vieja
• Van a reformar la casa que está vieja

Do not actually mean the same thing.

The words translate roughly into They are going to renovate the house which is old. 

The one with a comma functions similarly to how it does in English - the comma gives us extra information.  So this one house, right here, is being repaired because it’s old.  

But the other one, without a comma, means they are renovating the old house (not any of these other ones around here) 

That missing comma was donated to create a whole neighbourhood!   😂 

For those who read Spanish, here's the official version
For those who don't,  it's the pretty picture of the above ;)

This one amused me:

• Los hijos de Clara, que son simpatiquísimo, vienen a visitarnos
• Los hijos de Clara que son simpatiquísimos vienen a visitarnos

Basic Translation:

Clara’s children, who are very nice, come to visit us.

Vs: The nice children of Clara’s come to visit us (but the other, not-nice, children stay home)

So there you have both your and my educational moment of the day ;).